I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5991 

To require the collection of data by officers enforcing United States laws 

and regulations, including at border security stops within United States 

borders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 1, 2018 

Mr. CROWLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and 

Means, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the collection of data by officers enforcing United 

States laws and regulations, including at border security 

stops within United States borders, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Accountability and Transparency Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘DATA Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) BORDER SECURITY.—The term ‘‘border se4 curity’’ means the prevention of unlawful entries 

5 into the United States, including entries by individ6 uals, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other 

7 contraband. 

8 (2) CHECKPOINT.—The term ‘‘checkpoint’’ 

9 means a location— 

10 (A) at which vehicles or individuals trav11 eling through the location are stopped by a law 

12 enforcement official for the purposes of enforce13 ment of United States laws and regulations; 

14 and 

15 (B) that is not located at a port of entry 

16 along an international border of the United 

17 States. 

18 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.—The term 

19 ‘‘law enforcement official’’ means— 

20 (A) an officer or agent of U.S. Customs 

21 and Border Protection; 

22 (B) an officer or agent of U.S. Immigra23 tion and Customs Enforcement; or 

24 (C) an officer or employee of a State, or a 

25 political subdivision of a State, who is carrying 


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1 out the functions of an immigration officer pur2 suant to— 

3 (i) an agreement entered into under 

4 section 287(g) of the Immigration and Na5 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)); 

6 (ii) authorization under title IV of the 

7 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401 et 

8 seq.); or 

9 (iii) any other agreement with the De10 partment of Homeland Security, including 

11 any Federal grant program. 

12 (4) PATROL STOP.—The term ‘‘patrol stop’’ 

13 means search, seizure, or interrogation of a motor14 ist, passenger, or pedestrian initiated anywhere ex15 cept as part of an inspection at a port of entry or 

16 a primary inspection at a checkpoint. 

17 (5) PRIMARY INSPECTION.—The term ‘‘primary 

18 inspection’’ means an initial inspection of a vehicle 

19 or individual at a checkpoint. 

20 (6) SECONDARY INSPECTION.—The term ‘‘sec21 ondary inspection’’ means a further inspection of a 

22 vehicle or individual that is conducted following a 

23 primary inspection. 


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1 SEC. 3. DATA COLLECTION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI2 CIALS ENFORCING UNITED STATES LAWS 

3 AND REGULATIONS AND MAKING BORDER SE4 CURITY STOPS. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION REGARD6 ING STOPS AND SEARCHES.—A law enforcement official 

7 who initiates a patrol stop or who detains any individual 

8 beyond a brief and limited inquiry, such as a primary in9 spection at a checkpoint, shall record— 

10 (1) the date, time, and location of the contact; 

11 (2) the law enforcement official’s basis for, or 

12 circumstances surrounding, the contact, including if 

13 such individual’s perceived race or ethnicity contrib14 uted to the basis for, and circumstances sur15 rounding, the contact; 

16 (3) the identifying characteristics of such indi17 vidual, including the individual’s perceived race, gen18 der, ethnicity, and approximate age; 

19 (4) the duration of the stop, detention, or 

20 search, whether consent was requested and obtained 

21 for the contact, including any search; 

22 (5) a description of any articulable facts and 

23 behavior by the individual that justify initiating the 

24 contact or probable cause to justify any search pur25 suant to such contact; 


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1 (6) a description of any items seized during 

2 such search, including contraband or money, and a 

3 specification of the type of search conducted; 

4 (7) whether any arrest, detention, warning, or 

5 citation resulted from such contact and the basis for 

6 such action; 

7 (8) the immigration status of the individual, if 

8 obtained during the ordinary course of the contact 

9 without additional questioning in accordance with 

10 this Act, and whether removal proceedings were sub11 sequently initiated against the individual; 

12 (9) whether a body-worn camera or any other 

13 video or audio recording exists that recorded the 

14 stop or detention; 

15 (10) whether force was used by the law enforce16 ment official and, if so, the type of force, justifica17 tion for using force, and whether the use of force re18 sulted in injury or death; 

19 (11) whether any complaint was made by the 

20 individual subject to the contact, and if so— 

21 (A) which oversight components within or 

22 outside of the Department of Homeland Secu23 rity investigated the complaint; 

24 (B) how long the investigation lasted; 


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1 (C) a description of the methods of inves2 tigation used; and 

3 (D) the badge number of the law enforce4 ment official involved in the complaint; 

5 (12) if the contact was initiated by a State or 

6 local law enforcement agency— 

7 (A) the reason for involvement of a Fed8 eral law enforcement official; 

9 (B) the duration of the contact prior to 

10 contact with any Federal law enforcement offi11 cial; 

12 (C) the method by which a Federal law en13 forcement official was informed of the stop; and 

14 (D) whether the individual was being held 

15 by State or local officials on State criminal 

16 charges at the time of such contact; 

17 (13) if the contact was initiated by a State or 

18 local law enforcement agency of a State, whether 

19 such agency was acting pursuant to— 

20 (A) an agreement entered into under sec21 tion 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)); 

23 (B) authorization under title IV of the 

24 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.); or 


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1 (C) pursuant to any other agreement with 

2 the Department of Homeland Security, includ3 ing any Federal grant program; 

4 (14) if the contact involved an individual whose 

5 primary language of communication is not English, 

6 the means of communication used; 

7 (15) if the contact occurred at a location proxi8 mate to a place of worship or religious ceremony, 

9 school or education-related place or event, court10 house or other civic building providing services ac11 cessible to the public, hospital, medical treatment, or 

12 health care facility, at a public demonstration, or an 

13 attorney’s office, including a public defender or legal 

14 aid office; and 

15 (16) if the contact occurred at a location de16 scribed in paragraph (15), why that location was 

17 chosen and any supervisory approval that was 

18 sought to carry out the contact at the location. 

19 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER

20 PROTECTION DATA COLLECTION REGARDING CHECK21 POINTS.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 

22 Protection shall collect data on— 

23 (1) the number of permanent and temporary 

24 checkpoints utilized by officers of U.S. Customs and 

25 Border Protection; 


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1 (2) the location of each such checkpoint; 

2 (3) the dates on which a temporary checkpoint 

3 was used; and 

4 (4) a description of each such checkpoint, in5 cluding the presence of any other law enforcement 

6 agencies and the use of law enforcement resources, 

7 such as canines and surveillance technologies, in8 cluding license plate readers. 

9 (c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home11 land Security, in consultation with stakeholders, including 

12 research, civil and human rights organizations, shall pro13 mulgate regulations relating to the collection and report14 ing of data required under subsections (a) and (b), which 

15 shall— 

16 (1) specify all data to be reported; and 

17 (2) provide standards, definitions, and technical 

18 specifications to ensure uniform reporting. 

19 (d) COMPILATION OF DATA.— 

20 (1) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

21 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.—The Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security shall compile— 

23 (A) the data collected under subsection (a) 

24 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 


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1 officers and U.S. Customs and Border Protec2 tion officers; 

3 (B) the data collected under subsection (b) 

4 by the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Bor5 der Protection; and 

6 (C) an analysis for all incidents inves7 tigated by the Department of Homeland Secu8 rity’s Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs 

9 and Border Protection’s Office of Professional 

10 Responsibility, or U.S. Immigration and Cus11 toms Enforcement’s Office of Professional Re12 sponsibility to determine whether the data re13 quired to be collected under this Act were prop14 erly recorded and, if not, the corrective meas15 ures that were or will be taken. 

16 (2) OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.— 

17 The head of each agency, department, or other enti18 ty that employs law enforcement officials other than 

19 officers referred to in paragraph (1) shall— 

20 (A) compile the data collected by such law 

21 enforcement officials pursuant to subsection 

22 (a); and 

23 (B) submit the compiled data to the Sec24 retary of Homeland Security. 


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1 (e) USE OF DATA.—The Secretary of Homeland Se2 curity shall consider the data compiled under subsection 

3 (d) in making policy and program decisions. 

4 (f) AUDIT AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the effective date of the regulations promulgated under 

6 subsection (c), the Comptroller General of the United 

7 States shall— 

8 (1) conduct an audit of the data compiled under 

9 subsection (d) to determine whether law enforcement 

10 officials are complying with the data collection re11 quirements under subsection (a); and 

12 (2) submit a report to Congress that contains 

13 a summary of the findings of such audit. 

14 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 

15 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 effective date of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Sec17 retary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to Con18 gress on the data compiled under section 3(d), including 

19 all such data for the previous year. 

20 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Each report submitted under 

21 subsection (a) shall be made available to the public, except 

22 for particular data if the Secretary— 

23 (1) explicitly invokes an exemption contained in 

24 paragraphs (1) through (9) of section 552(b) of title 

25 5, United States Code; and 


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1 (2) provides a written explanation for the ex2 emption’s applicability. 

3 (c) PRIVACY.—The Secretary may not report unique 

4 personal identifying information of persons stopped, 

5 searched, or subjected to a property seizure, for purposes 

6 of this section. 

7 (d) PUBLICATION.—The data compiled under section 

8 3(d) shall be made available to the public to the extent 

9 the release of such data is permissible under Federal law. 

Æ 


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